Synopses & Reviews
Wherever vampires existed in the imaginations of different peoples, they adapted themselves to the customs of the local culture. As a result, vampire lore is extremely diverse. So too, representations of the vampire in creative works have been marked by much originality. In
The Vampyre (1819), John Polidori introduced Lord Ruthven and established the vampire craze of the 19th century that resulted in a flood of German vampire poetry, French vampire drama, and British vampire fiction. This tradition culminated in Bram Stoker's
Dracula (1897), which fixed the character of the Transylvanian nobleman as the archetypal vampire firmly in the public imagination. Numerous films drew from Stoker's novel to varying degrees, with each emphasizing different elements of his vampire character. And more recent writers have created works in which vampirism is used to explore contemporary social concerns.
The contributors to this volume discuss representations of the vampire in fiction, folklore, film, and popular culture. The first section includes chapters on Stoker and his works, with attention to such figures as Oscar Wilde and Edvard Munch. The second section explores the vampire in film and popular culture from Bela Lugosi to Blacula. The volume then looks at such modern writers as Anne Rice and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro who have adapted the vampire legend to meet their artistic needs. A final section studies contemporary issues, such as vampirism as a metaphor for AIDS in Killing Zoe.
Synopsis
Wherever vampires existed in the imaginations of different peoples, they adapted themselves to the customs of the local culture. In The Vampyre (1819), John Polidori introduced Lord Ruthven and established the vampire craze of the 19th century that resulted in a flood of German vampire poetry, French vampire drama, and British vampire fiction. That tradition culminated in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), which fixed the character of the Transylvanian nobleman firmly in the public imagination. The contributors to this volume examine representations of the vampire in fiction, film, folklore, and popular culture. While some look at Stoker and the early literary vampire, others study the works of contemporary writers, such as Anne Rice and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, vampirism as a metaphor for AIDS, and racial issues in such films as Blacula and Vampire in Brooklyn.
Synopsis
Contributors examine the vampire in fiction, film, folklore, and popular culture.
About the Author
JAMES CRAIG HOLTE is Associate Professor of English at East Carolina University.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Studies in Stoker
Shapeshifting Dracula: The Abridged Edition of 1901 by Elizabeth Miller
Bram Stroker and Irish Gothic by Raymond McNally
Dracula's Reflection: The Jewel of Seven Stars by Katie Harse
Appalling in Its Gloomy Fascination: Stoker's Dracula and Wilde's Salome by William Pencak
Stoker's Dracula: A Neo Gothic Experiment by Scott Vander Ploeg
Men in Love: The Fantasizing of Bram Stoker and Edvard Munch by Suzanna Nyberg
The Vampire in Film and Popular Culture
Bela Lugosi's Dead, But Vampire Music Stalks the Airwaves by Tony Fonseca
Policing Eddie Murphy: The Unstable Black Body in Vampire in Brooklyn by Les Tannenbaum
Resurrection in Britain: Christopher Lee and the Hammer Draculas by James Craig Holte
I Strahd: Narrative Voice and Variation on a Non-Player Character in TSR's Ravenloft Universe by Margaret Carter
Modern Vampire Fictions
The Mother Goddess in H. Rider Haggard's She and Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned by Bette Roberts
Blood Spirit/Blood Bodies: The Viral in the Vampire Chronicles of Anne Rice and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro by Heidi L. Nordberg
Kelene: The Face in the Mirror by Stephanie Moss
Contemporary Issues in the World of the Undead
Deadly Kisses: Vampirism, Colonialism, and the Gendering of Horror by Teri Ann Doerksen
A Girl Like That Will Give You AIDS!: Vampirism as AIDS in Killing Zoe by Jeane Rose